It is fair to say that Cavan football supporters have had little to cheer about in the last decade. But one thing about the Breffni Blues is that they will continue to travel the length and breadth of the country to cheer on their county. One of their most ardent supporters is Bailieboro native Malachy Clarke, who has been supporting Cavan all his life and he has seen both the good times and the bad. For many years Cavan were the kingpins of football as the Ulster county won five All-Ireland senior titles between 1933 and 1952, but Sam Maguire has eluded them ever since much to the dismay of their loyal following. However, it has not all been bleak times ever since as four Ulster titles were won during a golden period in the 60's when Cavan and Down dominated the provincial campaign. Malachy remembers this period with great detail and has happy memories of a time when football was one of the most important aspects of day to day life. "We lived and breathed football those days as there wasn't much else for people. Cavan produced some great footballers during that period and it was a great shame that the likes of Jim McDonnell, Ray Carolan, John Joe O'Reilly, Gabriel Kelly and Charlie Gallagher never won an All-Ireland medal," stressed Malachy. "In my opinion they should have done, they were certainly good enough and they had great battles with Down, who won the three All-Ireland's in the sixties." Despite the seventies and eighties seeing the county slip down the pecking order in Ulster, they did rewind the clock when in 1997; Cavan won the Provincial title for an astounding 60th time. "It was great to see Cavan win the title in '97. Martin McHugh came in as manager and he instilled a great belief among the players and it just goes to show what you can achieve with a bit of confidence. It was disappointing to lose to Kerry in the All-Ireland semi final, but many people at the time felt that we could go one step further the following year." However, this did not happen as Cavan slipped back into almost obscurity as the likes of Armagh and Tyrone began to dominate the Ulster championship, but Malachy has no doubts that Cavan can once again emerge from their rivals shadows. "Martin McHugh was a massive loss to the county when he left because in all fairness, it was him that made all the difference in '97. Hopefully, it will not be too long before we can win the Ulster title again. "It is certainly the toughest province to win, but I feel that Armagh and Tyrone have slipped back a bit. In fairness to them, they just couldn't keep going at the standard that they had set themselves. It is now up to the other counties like Cavan to push on from here." Malachy is impressed by new Cavan manager, Donal Keoghan, who has searched the county for the best possible squad available to him at the moment. "Keoghan has brought in a number of new faces and he had up to 40 training at the start of the year, which is good to see as it means that everyone is getting a chance to shine. "Cavan has some top quality footballers at their disposal. A few of them would make any county team in the country. The like of Seanie Johnston is a special talent, while Gerald Pierson, Jason Reilly and Dermot McCabe are all outstanding players. "The lads need to just believe in themselves and if they got a few good results under their belt, then I've know thought that they could do very well in the championship." Malachy has identified one area that has been a major concern for Cavan for a number of years now and he is eager to see the pivotal position being filled. "The full back line and in particular the full back position have been a problem for a good while. There has been many different players tried there, but none seem to settle in the position and I just hope that Donal Keoghan can sort out that problem." The Bailieboro native has been living in Skerries, Co Dublin since 1972, but he has never forgotten his roots and continues to support Cavan passionately. "I've always followed the county and go to many of their games. No matter whether they are playing well or bad. It's the same for a lot of Cavan supporters; the county has a great following always no matter what. Being from Bailieboro, I always look out for their results and see how they are doing also." The best player the club ever had was Pat Clarke, who had a few runs with the county. He was an outstanding servant to the club. Malachy has worked most of his life in Dublin and in 1987 established Winsac Ltd along with Clare native Bernie Carroll. The company is a Civil Engineering firm that specialises in building residential units all across the city and has been going strong ever since. "We have been building in the Dublin area for many years now and are currently working on a project in Skerries. We specialise in housing developments." Winsac has been involved in GAA sponsorship in the past as the company were the sponsors of the Skerries Harps underage club for three years and Malachy was delighted to be involved with the club. "We were sponsors of the underage section of the club a few years back. It was great to be able to help out and see that the money was going towards the development of kids in Gaelic football." Malachy maybe edging closer to retirement but his enthusiasm with regards Cavan football has never waned and he will continue to support the Breffni blues through thick and thin. "It would be great to see Cavan back on top again. The skill level of the modern game has certainly increased, but I think there was more passion years ago. Hopefully, that is something that can be brought back into the game and if Cavan could be one of the first counties to do that, I'd be happy." Tweet

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